EXCLUSIVE: Has hunt for Madeleine McCann ground to a halt? Just months after police announced extra funding amid reports they were closing in on a suspect, we reveal they made just TWO flights to Portugal last year

15 July 2017 | Updated: 17:13, 15 July 2017

Just months after British detectives announced 'critical' new leads in the Madeleine McCann case, and £85,000 in extra funding, Mail Online can reveal officers have significantly scaled back some aspects of the investigation.Detectives investigating the toddler's disappearance, codenamed Operation Grange, made just two flights to Portugal last year.A Freedom of Information request revealed the flights cost £500 and just £100 was spent on overnight expenses by senior investigating officer, DCI Nicola Wall, during the trips.In 2014 Operation Grange officers spent almost £16,000 on 67 return flights in search of three-year-old Madeleine, who vanished from her parent's Portuguese holiday villa in 2007. So far the police operation has cost more than £11m and parents Kate and Gerry McCann said they were 'very grateful' for an £85,000 cash injection from the Home Office in March this year.

The funding boost came as Scotland Yard chief Mark Rowley said there were still 'critical' leads of 'great interest' in the case.He also ruled out that Madeleine's parents were involved in her abduction and said she could still be alive. As the couple faced the agonising 10th anniversary of their daughter's disappearance, Mr Rowley also revealed that detectives were pursuing new information regarding the youngster's disappearance.He said: 'I know we have a significant line of inquiry which is worth pursuing, and because it's worth pursuing it could provide an answer, but until we've gone through it I won't know whether we are going to get there or not.

'Ourselves and the Portuguese are doing a critical piece of work and we don't want to spoil it by putting titbits of information out publicly.'At the time he declined to expand on the nature of the working theories or reveal whether any suspects were currently being considered, claiming that disclosing further detail would not help the investigation.Mr Rowley said: 'We've got some critical lines of inquiry, those link to particular hypotheses, but I'm not going to discuss those because those are very much live investigation.

'We've got some thoughts on what we think the most likely explanations might be and we are pursuing those.' A MET Police spokesman told MailOnline that detectives are going through a 'vast amount of material' related to the case in the UK.He added: 'The investigation continues with focus and determination.'Mail Online has contacted the McCann's representative for comment.

BRITISH cops hunting for Madeleine McCann today insist they are still confident of finding the missing girl after more than 10 years as their “investigation is continuing with focus and determination.”

Scotland Yard detectives are carrying on vital work on home ground insisting: “We don’t have to be in Portugal to find Madeleine.”

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